They took eight penalties, offered the Vancouver Canucks 14:28 of power-play time, looked vulnerable defensively and seemed at times to be doing everything they could to lose a National Hockey League game.

And still they were denied this by the Canucks, who couldn’t hold a third-period lead, were beaten on special teams despite an 8-4 advantage in power plays, and lost 5-4 when Claude Giroux beat Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller for the only goal of a shootout.

If the Canucks can’t win a road game when they score four times and spend nearly one-quarter of it with more players on the ice than the opposition, when can they win a road game? Well, almost never because Thursday’s loss left Vancouver stuck at five wins in 21 road games this season.

Their inability to seize two points even when the opposition is begging the Canucks to take them is a reckless and costly fault.

We’re not saying they “deserved” to win their three road games since the Canucks’ season-high six-game winning streak was built on five home wins, but Vancouver, either by luck or circumstance, was in a position to take at least four of these six points and flew home with just two.

In Nashville on Tuesday, the Canucks lost 2-1 in overtime by creatively surrendering a shorthanded winner when Predators penalty-killers attacked 2-on-0. Then here, against a porous Philadelphia team that had won once in eight games, the Canucks lost the special-teams battle 2-1 despite being bestowed by an advantage in power-play time of 14:28 to 6:30.

The Flyers’ tying goal, a shot by Brayden Schenn that went in off Miller’s shoulder 57 seconds into the third period, came on a power play.

“We scored four goals; that should be enough,” Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said, deflecting a question about Vancouver’s power play. “That was the bottom line in this game. It’s not a league where you should have to score four goals to win. But when you do, you should win.”

Just six road games ago, the Canucks scored six goals in Carolina but lost to the Hurricanes.

Their 1-for-8 performance with the man-advantage against the Flyers – Markus Granlund scored his second of two goals for the Canucks the instant a Philadelphia penalty ended — actually improved Vancouver’s 29th-ranked road power-play efficiency, which had been 10 per cent.

“Normally we’re a bit better defensively than that,” Canucks winger Jayson Megna said after his two-assist night. “Anytime we score four goals, we should be looking at two points. I thought we battled hard. Anytime you get into a special-teams game, guys get out of the flow. And when it comes to 5-on-5, you’re not as sharp.”

The Canucks were not as sharp, though not as sloppy as the Flyers.

Philadelphia’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Sean Couturier scored goals 18 seconds apart in the middle period after defensive-zone turnovers by Canucks Chris Tanev and Nikita Tryamkin, who had a nightmarish game.

The Philadelphia power play went 2-for-4.

In the first period alone, the Canucks had 8:37 of power play time, which included a continuous advantage of 7:10 created by overlapping double-minors for high-sticking to Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto. Yet the period ended 1-1.

Daniel Sedin picked the corner for Vancouver’s only power-play goal – during a two-man advantage.

“You see it all around the league; the team that wins the special-teams battle usually wins the game,” Megna said. “Especially on the road, if we’d been able to pop in a couple more early, it could have been an entirely different game for us.”

Canucks defenceman Luca Sbisa said: “We haven’t had a game like that in a while where we lost 5-4. That’s not how you want to try to win games. At the same time, I’m sure all the penalties had something to do with it. (Losing) 2-1 in the special-teams battle is not great considering how many power plays we had.”

Brandon Sutter also scored for the Canucks. Sean Couturier led the Flyers with a goal and an assist, although the best Philadelphia player may have been relief goalie Michal Neuvirth, who made 14 saves and closed the net on the Canucks when he replaced starter Steve Mason after two periods.

“I feel like that’s the way it’s been going for us on the road,” Sbisa said. “We’re really close. Tonight we were really close. The (game) before in Nashville, really close. There are things we need to do better on the road. You’ve got to win the special-teams battle to give yourself a chance to win on the road.”

So the Canucks lost twice on Thursday.

WHAT THIS MEANS

The Canucks just played three straight road games, even if a quick sortie home meant it wasn’t technically a three-game trip. They went 0-1-2 and are stuck at five road wins in 21 games this season.

Let’s review.

Last Saturday, after getting dominated the night before territorially by the Calgary Flames, the Canucks played well in the rematch on the road but lost 3-1.

Tuesday in Nashville, after snatching a late tying goal to force overtime, the Canucks were given a 4-on-3 power play in overtime but surrendered the winning goal shorthanded when the Predators counter-attacked on a two-on-zero breakaway.

And Thursday in Philadelphia: eight power plays and 14 ½ minutes of advantages, leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3, and a Flyer team that was sloppy defensively and had won just once in eight games – and still the Canucks lost.

They took two points out of six when they could have had at least four. For a team that has to work so hard to put itself in a position to win, that hasn’t the talent to breezily play its way out of mistakes, these were opportunities lost for Vancouver. We’ll know later on how costly they were.

Alex Burrows gets swarmed by the Flyers.

WHAT WE LEARNED

The “death stare” that Troy Stecher learned from Dave Hakstol was staring back at him when the Canuck rookie looked in the mirror before facing his old coach and the Flyers on Thursday.

Stecher, 22, was angry with himself for getting his shot blocked in overtime Tuesday in Nashville, creating a two-on-zero breakaway the other way that gave the Predators a 2-1 victory.

“I cost our team two points there,” the precocious defenceman said before getting back to work against the Flyers. “Something I didn’t want to happen, something I can learn from.”

Stecher rejects the idea that as a first-year pro straight out of the University of North Dakota he deserves some latitude when it comes to making mistakes in the National Hockey League.

That unyielding attitude doesn’t surprise Hakstol, the Flyer head coach who guided Stecher during the Richmond defenceman’s first two seasons at North Dakota.

“He is a consummate battler,” Hakstol told reporters after the morning skate. “What always made Troy an invaluable part of any team starts with his competitiveness. I would imagine you guys are starting to learn that about him.”

Hakstol so admires Stecher that he lobbied hard to get him to sign with Philadelphia when the undrafted free agent-turned-professional after his third season at college.

Stecher conceded it was a tough call, but said he is glad he signed last April with the Canucks, for whom the five-foot-10 blueliner has been playing top-four minutes since he forced his way into the lineup in November.

“I remember coming in as a freshman and I think I was the only skater who wasn’t drafted (by an NHL team),” Stecher said when asked about Hakstol. “He gave me an opportunity and I played every game that year. I definitely would be here without him.

“He’s got that death stare. He’s pretty hard-nosed and blue collar. It’s something he ingrained in our team. The way I kind of play. . . with a chip on my shoulder. . . I think he had a large part to do with that.”

“I saw him on the plane and he was a little bit quiet,” Sbisa said. “I said: ‘Buddy, everyone makes mistakes. You have been so good for us. If you make 100 plays and one of them is bad, you still made 99 good ones.’ Mistakes happen. It’s about how you react to them.”

And how did Stecher react against the Flyers?

He had two assists in 23:33 of ice time, and five shots on net. With none blocked.

IN A WORD

No-Bo. OK, that’s not really a word, but it’s worth noting that Bo Horvat, who leads the Canucks in goals and points, was on the ice for only 2:28 of the 8:37 Vancouver spent on the power play in the opening period.

Chaos. It wasn’t pretty, but it sure was fun when the teams combined for five second-period goals, aided by inept defending and carelessness with the puck. Markus Granlund had two of three Canuck goals as Vancouver built a 2-1 lead, blew it, then came back to lead 4-3.

Markus Granlund of the Canucks scores his second goal of the game.

Sameness. Canucks coach Willie Desjardins stuck with the same lineup that lost the previous two games while scoring only twice. Forwards Anton Rodin and Reid Boucher, who has yet to play since he was claimed on waivers a week ago, were healthy scratches.

ADVANCED STATS

8:37 – Canucks’ power-play time in first period, when the Flyers took six penalties, including a pair of double-minors for high-sticking. Vancouver generated only one goal, by Daniel Sedin, during a stretch of 5-on-3. Officially, the power play finished 1-for-8.

Plus-3 – Jayson Megna’s plus/minus for Vancouver on a night when the winger contributed two assists, exceeding his points total from the previous 15 games.

14 – Saves made by Flyer goalie Michal Neuvirth in the third period and overtime, when he didn’t allow a goal after replacing Steve Mason during the second intermission. He also stopped all three Canuck shots in the shootout.

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